Eugenia excelsa O. Berg (1857: 277)

Valdemarin, Karinne Sampaio, Mazine, Fiorella F. & Souza, Vinicius Castro, 2024, Eugenia (Myrtaceae) from Reserva Natural Vale, Espírito Santo, a center of plant endemism in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, Phytotaxa 651 (1), pp. 1-79 : 31-32

17. Eugenia excelsa O. Berg (1857: 277) . ( Fig. 11D .)

Trees 2–11 m tall. Twigs glabrous when young. Young leaves glabrous. Leaves with petioles 3–6 mm long, canaliculate to plane adaxially, glabrous; blades 45–78 × 13–25 mm, elliptic, narrow-elliptic, rare lanceolate or obovate, discolour when dry, lighter adaxially, not glaucous and glabrous on both surfaces; bases acute or attenuate; apices acuminate, sometimes caudate; midvein raised on both surfaces, glabrous on both surfaces; secondary veins 9–13 at each side, slightly raised or inconspicuous adaxially and slightly raised abaxially, the first pair confluent with the marginal innermost vein; marginal veins two, the innermost 0.5–1 mm from the plane and without thickening margin; oil glands slightly raised on both surfaces. Inflorescences axillary, fascicle, sessile or with peduncle up to 0.5 mm long, rachis up to 1 mm long, glabrous; bracts 0.5–2.5 mm long, ovate or oblong, glabrous, deciduous after anthesis; 2–4 flowers; pedicels 4–15 mm long, glabrous; bracteoles 0.5–1 mm long, free, lanceolate, apices acute, glabrous, not reflexed, deciduous at anthesis. Flower buds 2–4 mm in diameter. Flowers with smooth, glabrous hypanthia; calyx lobes 4, free in the bud, 1.5–2.5 × 1–2 mm, ovate or oblong, apices obtuse, glabrous; petals 4, obovate, oil glands inconspicuous; staminal ring puberulent; stamens with filaments 2.5–3.5 mm, anthers oblong; style 4–5 mm, glabrous, stigma punctiform and papilose; ovary 2–locular, ovules 15–19 per locule, locule internally glabrous. Fruits 6–8 × 6–8 mm, globose, smooth, glabrous, purple or white when ripe; seed 1 per fruit, ca. 4–5 × 4–5 mm, globose, testa smooth.

Specimens examined: — BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Linhares, Reserva Natural Vale – Estrada Caingá , 25 October 1993, fl., D.A. Folli 2054 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada Flamengo , 21 November 1983, fr., D.A. Folli 477 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., cruzamento com a Gávea , 09 February 1999, fl., D.A. Folli 3347 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., 9 February 1999, fl., E.N. Lughadha 180 (ESA!, K!, RB!, SORO!, SP!, SPF!) ; ibid., trilha ao lado esquerdo, próximo a Torre , 11 December 2016, fr., K.S. Valdemarin 365 (ESA!) ; ibid., Estrada Gávea , 13 September 1990, fl., D.A. Folli 1218 (CVRD!, SORO!) ; ibid., 22 November 1988, fr., D.A. Folli 819 (CVRD!, HUFSJ!, SORO!) ; ibid., Estrada X-1, Km 17,870, lado direito, 03 September 1979, fl., D.A. Folli 105 (RBR!) ; ibid., Estrada Zamboa , 12 December 2016, fr., K.S. Valdemarin 408 (ESA!); no locality, 28 October 2010, fl., T.B. Flores 958 (CVRD!, ESA!, HPL!, SPF!, VIES!) .

Distribution and habitat: — Eugenia excelsa is a widespread species, known from collections from the state of Rio Grande do Norte to Santa Catarina in the Atlantic rainforest, and from Amazonas to Maranhão in the Amazon of Brazil. In the RNV, the species is found in the Mata Alta and Muçununga vegetations, mainly in the transition areas of these vegetations.

Phenology: —Flowering in September through October, and in February; fruiting in November through December ( Fig. 4 ).

Taxonomic comments: —The species is assigned to Eugenia sect. Excelsae . Eugenia excelsa is morphologically similar to E. copacabanensis and E. platyphylla . Details about morphological similarities and differences from Eugenia excelsa and the former have already been presented on the comments of E. copacabanensis . Regarding Eugenia platyphylla , the species are similar due to their fasciculate inflorescences, bracteoles deciduous at anthesis and globose fruits, purple or white when ripe. However, Eugenia excelsa can be distinguished by its leaves generally smaller, 45–78 × 13–25 mm, with midvein raised adaxially and innermost marginal vein 0.5–1 mm from the plane margin (vs. leaves bigger, 60–190 × 25–70 mm, midvein generally sulcate adaxially, sometimes plane or raised, and innermost marginal vein 2–4 mm from the revolute margin), as presented in Table 1 .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Phenological diagram of Eugenia species from Reserva Natural Vale, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Flowering periods are represented by dark red border triangles, fruiting in grey filled triangles, and “n” is the number of observations.

FIGURE 11. A. Flowering branch of Eugenia cataphyllea (G. Siqueira 1089, Vale S.A.), B. Flowering branch of Eugenia copacabanensis (K.S. Valdemarin 1047), C. Flowering branch of Eugenia disperma (K.S. Valdemarin 790), D. Fruiting branch of Eugenia excelsa (K.S. Valdemarin 408).